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Solidago austrina Small is native to bogs, swampy ground, wet depressions, and roadside ditches of the Piedmont and rarely the adjacent inner coastal plain in the southeastern U.S.  It is characterized by having serrate basal rosette and lower to mid stem leaves and in robust plants inflorescences with elongated spreading, arching lower branches (Semple 2012).  Smaller plants with short inflorescences usually lack the elongated lower branches; these are easily confused with S. virgataÌý(S. stricta sensu authors not here) if lower stem leaves are not present.

Solidago austrina has not always been recognized as distinct from S. virgata (S. stricta sensu authors not here) and was incorrectly included in S. strictaÌý²õ²õ±è.Ìýgracillima in FNA (), which is here treated as S. gracillima.  In a multivariate analysis of the S. stricta complex, Semple et al. (2016) reported strong support for recognizing S. austrina as a separate species. Solidago austrina was included in a multivariate study of the S. uliginosa complex as an "out group" for comparison (Semple et al. 2019).

Solidago austrina is diploid (2n=18) in North Carolina and Georgia and tetraploid (2n=36) in South Carolina, northeastern Alabama, and adjacent Tennessee.  Semple and Cook (2022) summarized and mapped the cytogeography of all species in SolidagoÌý²õ±ð³¦³Ù.ÌýMaritimae ¾±²Ô³¦±ô³Ü»å¾±²Ô²µÌýS. austrina. The ploidy level of the disjunct population in Kentucky is unknown.

Semple, J.C., T. Shea, M. El-Swesi, H. Rahman, and Y. Ma. 2016.  A multivariate study of the Solidago stricta complex  (Asteraceae: Astereae: S.Ìý²õ³Ü²ú²õ±ð³¦³Ù.ÌýMaritimae). Phytoneuron 2016-86. 1-34.

Semple, J.C., T. Shea, H. Rahman, Y. Ma, and L. Tong.  2019.  A multivariate morphometric analysis of the Solidago uliginosa complex (Asteraceae: Astereae; S.Ìý²õ³Ü²ú²õ±ð³¦³Ù.ÌýMaritimae) in eastern North America.  Phytoneuron 2019-48: 1–44.

Semple, J.C. and R.E. Cook. 2022. Cytogeography of SolidagoÌý²õ±ð³¦³Ù.ÌýMaritimaeÌý(Asteraceae: Astereae). Ann. Mo. Bot. Garden 107: 21-31.

Last revised 11 April 2025 by J.C. Semple 

© 2025 J.C. Semple, including all photographs unless otherwise indicated